Promoting Collaboration and Team Science Across the CTSA Consortium OR Now that you’ve VIVOed, what Next? Holly Falk-Krzesinski (Northwestern U./Elsevier) Bill Barnett (Indiana U.) August 23, 2012 VIVO 2012

Background to this paper Holly has a background at Northwestern in collaborative research that includes a focus on the science of team science (research on scientific teams) and the praxis of team science (the practical aspects of science performed in teams) Bill has a background in research computing and has been responsible for developing collaboration tools and environments for virtual organizations at the Indiana CTSI Holly and Bill have participated actively for some time in the CTSA Research Networking Affinity Group that contributed to the genesis of the VIVO and Eagle-I programs This project comes out of a partnership with the Clinical and Translational Sciences Award (CTSA) consortium Strategic Goal 3 Committee, which provides strategic leadership for the CTSA for communication and collaboration

There are 5 principal areas where VIVO profiles can be applied to Team Science The Process and Praxis of collaboration Identifying and disseminating successful models of team science Team science training Developing workflows and processes Understanding the best IT and web-based tools for translational collaboration

For each of these areas we will discuss: What it is and why it is important Features (that we know of!) already supported by VIVO Areas of future opportunity But we’d like this to be a conversation…

The Process and Praxis of Collaboration (Holly) What it is and why it is important – Supporting the science of team science (SciTS) and disseminating results of that research will impact effective collaboration practice. Features already supported by VIVO – Analysis of collaboration networks using bibliometric data. The early stages of recommendation vs. simple identification, i.e., selection (of the most appropriate) from amongst a group of ID’ed experts (Noshir Contractor’s C-IKNOW tool pilot project done w/ Mike Conlon and Dave Eichmann presented at the SciTS conference) Areas of future opportunity – Longitudinal studies of collaboration patterns over time. Strategic team science assembly. Examination of team science performance, w/ opportunity for diagnosis and prediction  This is very powerful for funding agencies and predict and measure successful project outcomes.

Identifying and disseminating successful models of team science (Holly) What it is and why it is important – Understanding best practices for translational research can guide translational programs Features already supported by VIVO – Northwestern Scholars (VIVO + Elsevier SciVal Experts + SciVal Funding suite) to match research funding opportunities with collaborators’ profiles Areas of future opportunity – Organizational models that integrate profiles with a suite of applications in a modular fashion that allow for easy tool interaction (funding opportunities, IP info, research resources). The ‘Virtual Home’ concept of the new NCATS CTSA RFA.

Team Science Training (Holly) What it is and why it is important – Good practices, policies, and organizational models that best promote team science will lead to more successful research. Features already supported by VIVO – Matching mentors and students for formal Ed and for ongoing career development Areas of future opportunity – Leveraging rich profiles of students, researchers, and mentors to support strategic or opportunistic advancement of Career Learning. VIVO data about existing collaboration networks could be used in conjunction with existing diagnostic tools such as the Collaboration Success Wizard (U of CA, Irvine) to better identify opportunities and challenges for distributed teams. Can be part of career approach to ongoing medical education.

Developing Workflows and Processes (Bill) What it is and why it is important – Better research processes that effectively engage and deliver collaborative research efforts Features already supported by VIVO – CTSA Central Research Networking Guide. Areas of future opportunity – CTSA Connect? Connectivity w/ Collaborative Scientific Project Management/Grant Management tools like HUBzero and In4Grants and Science Exchange for Core marketplaces. Overlay collaboration networks w/ communication networks to better understand the quality of collaborative communication. Also, science gateways are now evolving to support transdisciplinary research, particularly that which involves shared computational and data management infrastructures (eg., Open Science Grid and XSEDE)

Understanding the best IT and web-based tools for translational collaboration (Bill) What it is and why it is important – The right tool connected with collaborators improves effective implementation and maximum use. Is collaboration not one of the principal goals of research networking? Features already supported by VIVO – Are there collaboration tools out there that leverage VIVO other than RN tools?  Yes, ShareCenter very soon! Yes, SciVal Experts, which already has the capability to connect profiles and shared research resources (at least in NU’s implementation). Apps that integrate profiles and resources (CTSAConnect) Areas of future opportunity – Team formation around emerging research areas, time-sensitive public health problems/emerging infectious diseases (e.g. hantavirus, Ebola Virus, SARS, ), and/or RFAs, etc. OR, just good collaboration tools that leverage profile information to support collaborative research.

Conclusions: Finding a collaborator in and of itself does not accomplish any translational goal. How VIVO enables collaboration and team science approaches is the ultimate value Are we using our own tools to improve collaboration as a community of practice? Thanks! Holly Bill